Bucks' Brook Lopez Makes NBA History in First Half vs Nets

The one-time All-Star entered rare air on Thursday.

Dec 21, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) reacts in the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Even four months shy of his 37th birthday, Milwaukee Bucks star center Brook Lopez continues to impress.

The 7-foot-1 big man out of Stanford is in the midst of a huge night against the team that drafted him, the Brooklyn Nets, at home in Fiserv Forum.

At one point, Lopez chipped in 11 straight Bucks points (including, at one point, three straight nailed triples) while helping propel the club to a massive doube-digit edge over the visitors.

But Lopez, a two-time All-Defensive Teamer during his Milwaukee tenure, has been getting it done on both ends of the floor Thursday.

When he notched his second block of the night, against Nets starting shooting guard Keon Johnson along the left baseline, he entered rare NBA air indeed.

Lopez became the No. 20 all-time leader in blocks league-wide. He has 1,969 career rejections, as Milwaukee's official social media mentions. Lopez has now leapfrogged two-time All-Defensive Team power forward/center Theo Ratliffe's 1,968 career rejections.

1,969 blocks.

Congratulations to Brook Lopez for moving into 20th all-time in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/5n6pRcPVa3

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 27, 2024

Next up for Lopez is trouncing former three-time Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star power forward Larry Nance's career 2,027 career blocks. 15-time All-Star superstar Kevin Garnett notched 2,037 rejections throughout his career. He's currently No. 18 on the all-time list.

Hitting the top 20 in blocks is representative of what's been a shockingly extended second act for Lopez. When he first entered the league in 2008 as a member of the then-New Jersey Nets, he was an offense-first scorer for the Nets, and played almost exclusively within the 3-point line. Now, while competing for championships in Milwaukee, Lopez is a 3-and-D role player, and generally regarded as one of the league's better rim protectors.

With Bucks All-Stars Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo both sitting for the second straight game on Thursday, role players like Lopez and Bobby Portis have gotten extended run and extra touches, and they have responded in kind.

Across 15:36 in the first half, Lopez has scored a team-leading 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting (4-of-4 from long range), pulled down four rebounds, and blocked the aforementioned two shots.

The Bucks currently lead the Nets by single figures, 59-51, at the break, after Andre Jackson Jr. fouled Brooklyn's Cameron Johnson on a 3-point attempt with 3.7 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Milwaukee has led by as many as 13 points. In the second quarter, the Bucks recovered from a 1-of-6 first period start from long range to go 7-of-12 from 3-point land, helping carve out their advantage over the Nets, who went 1-of-9 in that same second frame.

Lopez, who's on an expiring $23 million contract this season, has looked as excellent as ever in 2024-25. Across 28 healthy completed contests heading into Thursday, Lopez boasts season averages of 11.6 points on .482/.371/.737 shooting splits (that 37.1 percent 3-point rate arrives on 5.0 triple tries a night), 4.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.5 assists and 0.9 steals per game. He appears to be at least making a case for one more multi-year, big-ticket contract in free agency this summer. Whether he earns that with the Bucks or elsewhere remains to be seen.

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